Aura

A/N: Set in movieverse because I haven't read the comics. I also know nothing about aphasia (but did some basic research) and threw in deaf!Clint just because.

Written for this prompt: avengerkink. livejournal ?thread=13300093#t13300093, but with a few bent details.

The lights flicker.

No one else comments on it, so Clint knows that he has to get out of there, that he's about to have one of thoseagain, and he doesn't want to have to explain it to the people who are in the debriefing with him.

It's because he's been concentrating on targets for hours and listening hard for the sounds of the battle to give him cues on when and where to fire, which is made all the more difficult by the hearing aids.

Not to mention he's exhausted by the night watch he had last night before this had come in.

He gets up, mumbling an excuse so he can get out of there as quickly as possible.

Just as he reaches the door, he finds that Steve is in his way.

"Where are you going?"

He's about to answer when it hits.

Suddenly he can't find the words to express himself at all.

He sits himself back down in the nearest chair.

There are three of them in the room, Fury having just left to get Natasha, and the other two each respond differently.

Steve is confused and is afraid that it was something he said. He's about to reach out to his friend, but Bruce is faster.

Bruce thinks he knows what's wrong and is even more terrified. He moves to stand in front of the archer and sits.

"Can you say your name?" He speaks briskly, not wanting to wait a moment if it's what he thinks it is.

There's a moment before he responds.

"Table."

Inside, Clint knows exactly what his name is. He wants to tell them that he's fine, that this has happened before; it's not what they think it is.

He also wants to know why it has taken Fury half an hour to get Natasha. It takes less five minutes to walk from here to the infirmary, where she's getting a serious cut bandaged up before joining the debriefing.

But he can't work out which words convey those messages.

His speech isn't slurred, but the answer is not right. Bruce turns to Steve.

"I think he's having a stroke."

It's at that moment that Natasha walks into the room, sees Clint looking puzzled and works it out.

"No, I think it's a migraine aura," she says and moves to occupy the position that Bruce has been in.

Bruce nods in understanding and gets out of her way. Obviously she knows what she's doing. Steve still looks confused as hell.

"Clint," she says slowly, "can you understand me? Aphasia?" She's not using a baby voice, just saying things as she usually would, but much more slowly.

At the same time, she's signing it to him, using a gesture that they made up to represent the condition.

It takes him a minute, but he nods, once.

Natasha breathes a sigh of relief, thankful that Bruce's assumption was wrong, and reaches over to take out his hearing aids. He lets her.

"This might make you feel better," she states, using the same tone as before.

It's slightly better. At least now he doesn't have to process the auditory information.

"We'll just have to wait it out. It usually takes about ten minutes," she says to the people gathered. "How long has he been like this already?"

"Maybe five minutes, max," the Captain replies.

She seats herself in front of Clint and maintains eye contact.

It's another two minutes until he can find the words.

"Sorry for worrying you," he sighs, blinking, the pain of the migraine beginning to kick in.

"Let's finish this another time," Fury allows. "Barton, get yourself to the infirmary." Natasha helpfully signs it, even though she knows he can lip-read.

For once, he's happy to obey that order - and see if they have something that will make the lights not seem so bright.

The condition here is transient aphasia as a result of migraine aura. Aphasia is a condition whereby the sufferer is unable to express themselves (tip of the tongue sensation) or mixes up words and their meanings. It does not affect a person's ability to process language.

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